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HID IR input to Windows

 
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bevhoward



Joined: 24 Jun 2005
Posts: 248

                    
PostPosted: Wed Jan 02, 2019 6:01 pm    Post subject: HID IR input to Windows Reply with quote

There are a number of different HID IR input to USB devices around.

The most universal are probably MCE (windows Media Center Edition) IR dongles.

However these devices do not have the capability (like usb mice or keyboards do) to bring the computer out of sleep state.

I have one IR HID device that does have that capability, but capturing a "learned" command shows the protocol as "none"

So, two questions;

Is there a common IR HID USB device that has the ability to wake a sleeping computer?

If not, are there pointers on how to capture and and transfer the no protocol learned commands to an rmir file. (In this case, I only need one command since, after the computer is awake, the MCE commands will function.)

Beverly Howard
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The Robman
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Joined: 01 Aug 2003
Posts: 21210
Location: Chicago, IL

                    
PostPosted: Wed Jan 02, 2019 6:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

That probably just means that the protocol has not been formally documented, but that's just a guess, I'd need to see the RMIR file to be sure.

When you learn the HID signals, do the learned signals work? If so, they're part of your RMIR file and you could use them as learned signals (and I told you in another email how to copy a learned signal from one RMIR file to another).

If you were to post a complete set of the HID buttons as learned buttons, we can probably reverse engineer them to create a regular upgrade for them.
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bevhoward



Joined: 24 Jun 2005
Posts: 248

                    
PostPosted: Wed Jan 02, 2019 7:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the response.

The primary goal was to find out if there were any common HID devices other than MCE or a generic IR HID USB dongle.

Since these options are almost "one off" rather than spending time on something that may not be available, find a "lowest common denominator" for primitive communication with a PC.

The microsoft ir keyboard would seem ideal, but, since it cannot wake a sleeping computer is why I am looking for a more generic IR HID dongle.

I'll upload a file with this device's learned command for <space> since that is an important command not on the MCE remotes.

Thanks yet again,
Beverly
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bevhoward



Joined: 24 Jun 2005
Posts: 248

                    
PostPosted: Wed Jan 02, 2019 7:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sorry, I'm snakebit again.

I can't use RMIR because the following message suddenly appears after using RMIR all day with no problems;
Code:
RMIR was unable to set up the Iibrary required for USB HID communication.
This may mean that you have installed RMIR in a read-only folder.   If so,
some features of RMIR will not work correctly.  You are strongly advised
to reinstall it in a folder that is not read-only.

I have not changed or moved anything in the RM directory today other than edit, create and rename rmir and rmdu files.

The computer recognizes the remote when it is attached.

I'll troubleshoot this tomorrow and reinstall if necessary.

Thanks for your patience,
Beverly
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bevhoward



Joined: 24 Jun 2005
Posts: 248

                    
PostPosted: Wed Jan 09, 2019 7:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Getting back to the original topic in this thread (getting IR commands into a media computer) I did some more searches and found this device.

https://flirc.tv/more/flirc-usb

It just arrived, so I have not had any time to research it in depth, but one important point is that device manager confirms that, unlike the MS EHome IR dongle that the MCE devices normally use, this device has the capability to "wake" a computer that is in "sleep" mode.

It appears to be partially compatible with the MCE remote and the JP1 MCE device definitions although many of the functions on the MCE remote are not native to the Flirc

The descriptions lead me to believe that the dongle will be compatible with JP1 as it's primary claim is that you can use any remote to issue MCE commands using a GUI utility that I have not yet downloaded.

HOWEVER, the entire Flirc site is so "locked down" by captcha, I was unable to do anything including joining their forum or even using their "contact form" to ask how to join.

Anyway, here's hoping. Will report back when I learn anything... may be a few days as I have dental surgery scheduled for tomorrow.

Finally got into the Flirc forum, but only with the help of the forum administrator via telephone.

If the go there, know that the "secret answer" to the "company" question in the forum signup is "flirc"

More when I recover,
Beverly Howard


Last edited by bevhoward on Sat Jan 12, 2019 4:44 pm; edited 1 time in total
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mdavej
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Joined: 08 Oct 2003
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 09, 2019 8:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bev, good luck with your procedure.

Years ago, I had the same dilemma. What ended up working for me was a Diamond Multimedia brand "MCE" dongle that was actually NEC1 protocol. It also depended on having wake-on-USB enabled in the BIOS settings as well as setting the correct power options in device manager (allow this device to wake PC).

I have an FLIRC dongle as well, but have actually never used it. I'll try to experiment with it this weekend and report my results. Since FLIRC can use any arbitrary set or IR codes, it's technically compatible with all 10,000 or so JP1 upgrades in our library. But most people use MCE codes since they're pre-configured in the FLIRC software.

I used an Ortek dongle for a few years as well. It would wake my older PC, but would not wake the newer one I replaced it with.

EDIT: If you search "Diamond GRC100" on ebay, you'll find a few of the dongles I was talking about for around $20 shipped. They come with a remote. But we have an upgrade for it already.


Last edited by mdavej on Thu Jan 10, 2019 6:04 pm; edited 1 time in total
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urcfan02



Joined: 28 Dec 2018
Posts: 22

                    
PostPosted: Thu Jan 10, 2019 5:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The device driver on a PC and it's configuration has a big influence!

I know it from network cards. Depending on this, some drivers put the device in a special mode during shutdown, enabling the wake-up capabilities. I know such issues from network cards. Some of them do not wake up using Windows (10) included drivers, but with the drivers provided by manufacturers (e.g. some Intel cards). In Linux, some of the (included) drivers do need some additional configuration parameters to enable wake-up.

In these case this also means:
If you do a regular shut down, wake-up works. If there was a power loss in between it can fail!

In some cases the BIOS settings have to be adjusted, too.
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bevhoward



Joined: 24 Jun 2005
Posts: 248

                    
PostPosted: Fri Jan 11, 2019 3:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
It also depended on having wake-on-USB enabled in the BIOS settings as well as setting the correct power options in device manager (allow this device to wake PC)


Quote:
If you do a regular shut down, wake-up works. If there was a power loss in between it can fail!


Couple of well educated techies there.

It's been a while since I could bring a computer back up using usb that had been "shut down" but, depending on the computer's power settings (there are eight of them, see https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/desktop/power/system-power-states)

Remotes with usb dongles may or may not have a chance. For example, the ms eHome IR dongle does not have power settings with it's driver, so, if the computer is asleep, a standard MCE and eHome dongle cannot wake the computer.

As far as WOL, the main clue for me is if the led on the ethernet port remains lit after a complete shutdown and the computer's settings are correct you can wake the computer with a magic packet.

The Flirc has two advantages. First, it's usb device driver includes the ability to bring a PC out of sleep mode.

(MCE misinformation removed)

As mentioned, there is add on software for the Flirc that I have not tried that allows customization so that any remote's signal can be converted to MCE commands.

Beverly


Last edited by bevhoward on Sat Jan 12, 2019 4:42 pm; edited 1 time in total
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bevhoward



Joined: 24 Jun 2005
Posts: 248

                    
PostPosted: Sat Jan 12, 2019 4:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Flirc is interesting and not as expected.

First, I posted some incorrect information re Flirc and MCE remote commands.

I began to get inconsistent results so I unplugged the MCE eHome IR dongle so that only the Flirc was connected.

When I did that and retested, it appears that about half of the MCE commands are active and some of those are incorrect... for example, the channel buttons control the volume.

None of the MCE specific commands such as the MCE button work through the Flirc.

The transport controls seem to work better... for example, play/pause controls Acorn where it never did before.

Beverly Howard
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bevhoward



Joined: 24 Jun 2005
Posts: 248

                    
PostPosted: Sat Jan 12, 2019 4:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Continuing with Flirc;

The next thing that I did was to install the Flirc software and drivers.

The list of "controllers" is limited... eleven to be exact.

However, it does include a full windows keyboard and the recording commands include multi key commands such as;
<win-D> (show desktop) and
<ctrl-alt-s> (which I have set as sleep)

Once the commands are recorded using the Flirc utility, they then continue to function when the Flirc utility is quit.

Again, not as I expected, but very usable to meet needs not possible by other means.

Hope that this information is useful to others here.
Beverly Howard
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